Through 2/5/06

2004

Patriots Repeat As Champs; Eagles Finish 3rd

The New England Patriots, which finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the Dunkel Index, defeated Philadelphia (24-21) to win Super Bowl XXXIX for their third championship in four years. The Patriots had little problem with the top-ranked Colts in the second round of the playoffs, shutting down Peyton Manning and the Colts’ offense en route to a 20-3 win. The loss dropped Indianapolis to No. 2 in Dunkel’s final rankings. New England then demolished No. 4 Pittsburgh on the road in the AFC Championship before upending the Eagles in Jacksonville. Philadelphia’s playoff wins over Minnesota and Atlanta, combined with a solid performance in the Super Bowl, were good enough to put the Eagles at No. 3. Here are the complete Dunkel NFL rankings for 2004 season.

TEAM

RATING

RECORD

DIVISION

1

New England

139.8

17-2

AFC East

2

Indianapolis

136.1

13-5

AFC South

3

Philadelphia

135.0

15-4

NFC East

4

Pittsburgh

134.2

16-2

AFC North

5

Buffalo

133.9

9-7

AFC East

6

San Diego

131.6

12-5

AFC West

7

Atlanta

130.5

12-6

NFC South

8

NY Jets

130.3

11-7

AFC East

9

Carolina

129.2

7-9

NFC South

10

Green Bay

128.9

10-7

NFC North

11

New Orleans

128.8

8-8

NFC South

12

Baltimore

128.7

9-7

AFC North

13

Kansas City

128.6

7-9

AFC West

14

Denver

128.3

10-7

AFC West

15

Minnesota

128.0

9-9

NFC North

16

Houston

127.0

7-9

AFC South

17

Cincinnati

126.9

8-8

AFC North

18

Jacksonville

126.3

9-7

AFC South

19

Washington

125.2

6-10

NFC East

20

St. Louis

123.7

9-9

NFC West

21

Tampa Bay

122.9

5-11

NFC South

22

NY Giants

122.4

6-10

NFC East

23

Seattle

122.4

9-8

NFC West

24

Miami

122.2

4-12

AFC East

25

Dallas

122.1

6-10

NFC East

26

Detroit

121.9

6-10

NFC North

27

Oakland

121.5

5-11

AFC West

28

Arizona

121.1

6-10

NFC West

29

Cleveland

120.5

4-12

AFC North

30

Tennessee

120.1

5-11

AFC South

31

Chicago

117.1

5-11

NFC North

32

San Francisco

114.1

2-14

NFC West

2003

Patriots Win Second Super Bowl In Three Years

The New England Patriots completed their improbable run with a 32-29 win over Carolina in Super Bowl XXXVIII and locked up the top spot in the Dunkel Index for the second time in three years. The Patriots bounced back from a disappointing 2002 and a sluggish 2-2 start to 2003 by winning its last 15 games. No team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins had done that. And perhaps befitting the ’72 Dolphins, these Patriots were made up mostly of no-name players. Their final rating of 136.5 was not high by historical standards (for example, the Bucs finished at 141.3 the year before). But the Patriots did just enough to win, whether it be a 17-14 defensive struggle over Tennessee in the playoffs or a 32-29 shootout over Carolina in the Super Bowl. Here’s the final ratings for the 2003 season.

TEAM

RATING

RECORD

DIVISION

1

New England

136.5

17-2

AFC East

2

Green Bay

132.7

11-7

NFC North

3

Carolina

132.3

14-6

NFC South

4

Philadelphia

131.8

13-5

NFC East

5

Indianapolis

131.5

14-5

AFC South

6

Tennessee

131.4

13-5

AFC South

7

Baltimore

129.9

10-7

AFC North

8

Miami

129.2

10-6

AFC East

9

Kansas City

128.4

13-4

AFC West

10

Denver

126.9

10-7

AFC West

11

Seattle

126.8

10-7

NFC West

12

New Orleans

126.7

8-8

NFC South

13

St. Louis

126.6

12-5

NFC West

14

NY Jets

125.7

6-10

AFC East

15

Pittsburgh

125.6

6-10

AFC North

16

San Francisco

125.3

7-9

NFC West

17

Dallas

124.8

10-7

NFC East

18

Minnesota

124.6

9-7

NFC North

19

Jacksonville

123.6

5-11

AFC South

20

Tampa Bay

122.7

7-9

NFC South

21

Atlanta

122.6

5-11

NFC South

22

Cincinnati

121.5

8-8

AFC North

23

Buffalo

121.3

6-10

AFC East

24

Chicago

121.1

7-9

NFC North

25

Houston

120.8

5-11

AFC South

26

Cleveland

120.4

5-11

AFC North

27

Detroit

119.0

5-11

NFC North

28

Washington

118.6

5-11

NFC East

29

San Diego

117.5

4-12

AFC West

30

Oakland

115.9

4-12

AFC West

31

Arizona

114.0

4-12

NFC West

32

NY Giants

112.0

4-12

NFC East

2002

Bucs Can’t Be Stopped; Claim 1st Championship

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shed their image as a team that couldn’t win the big game by soundly defeating the Oakland Raiders, 48-21, to win Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego. The Bucs entered the game hot off their upset 27-10 victory at Philadelphia in the NFC Championship. Tampa kept the momentum going by jumping out to a 34-3 lead over the Raiders and MVP QB Rich Gannon. Dexter Jackson earned the game’s MVP by twice picking off Gannon. The Bucs capped their first championship by returning two interceptions for TDs in the fourth quarter. Here’s the complete rankings from the 2002 season.